Hannibal Rising (Full Screen Edition)

The reason why Lecter loves Starling
At first I watched this movie and thought that it does not fully explain why Hannibal Lecter became Hannibal Lecter. I read all the books as well and never got it until the other night I watched Silence of the Lambs again, and it hit me. The stories between Lecter and Starling are similar, yet they chose opposite ends of the path. Here are their similarities:

When they were both young they each became orphaned.

When they were orphaned they each had a charge to take care of, Starling trying to save the lamb, Lecter and his sister. Which incidentaly, were both eaten.

This fractured Lecter while it steeled Starling and this is where they separate. Starling is what Lecter could have been and he loves her for it.

So when I came to this realization, this movie made more sense to me and now I like it.

I'm still wanting to see Hannibal at his prime, between his begining and then right before his capture. The murders that made him...

QUITE THE PLEASANT SURPRISE
Well I must admit I was going in to this movie with little expectations. I'm a big fan of the other 3, 4 if you want to add Manhunter in there. My first concern was someone other than Anthony Hopkins playing Hannibal will be a letdown. Gaspard Ulliel is not Hopkins but he won me over. He did a very respectable job. I'd never heard of him before and am now very impressed. Gong Li was very good as well. Overall the acting was better than expected.

I won't go into the plot since I trust everyone knows it by now. Going back to see how Hannibal got his start was very interesting. I'm a horror film fan and love blood and gore but to this movies credit it did not need the blood and gore. By my standards it was moderately gruesome, but I was so intrigued by the story I wasn't dissapointed at all. The movie was beautifully filmed.

Here's how I would rate all the movies so you can gage by my ratings how you might like Hannibal Rising. I rate my movies...

A paper crane for your soul
I've read all of the other Hannibal books, and after the last one I was honestly skeptical, but this prooved to be a pleasent surprise. For those frustrated with Harris'es typical past-present writing style, this might be a good change since he really writes the story as a story.

The format is a typical tragedy: a good person doomed to become a monster. When the "winter of his heart" finally comes, you really feel for all the characters involved.

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